Finding mum’s recipes led to a cookbook on how to make everything from curry puffs to laksa to scones
- When Hong Kong-born Dominica Yang found her mum’s handwritten recipes, she decided to put together a cookbook in memory of her and of her late sister
- Mum’s Kitchen – Back to Basics, features Southeast Asian recipes including curry puffs and laksa; others include char siu, Bakewell tart and classic scones
In the introduction to Mum’s Kitchen – Back to Basics (2021), Hong Kong-born Dominica Yang writes that she found a treasure when she was cleaning out her childhood family home. It wasn’t gold or jewels: it was her mother’s handwritten recipes. Her mother, she writes, was an excellent cook and hostess.
“My mum was the kindest mother and the most hospitable hostess, and as the Chinese would always say, we can always add a pair of chopsticks. She was known for always hosting the most delicious, wholesome and plentiful meals.
“And it goes without saying that my love of cooking stemmed from such a household – from helping in the kitchen at a young age to cooking with my mum or discussing recipes with her through different stages of my life.”
“Priscilla lived for 10 short years – she was born mentally and physically disabled. In 1983, my father helped to set up Priscilla’s Home, part of the Fu Hong Society, to offer day training and residential services with hostel facilities to individuals with severe disabilities, in memory of Priscilla.”
Proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit Priscilla’s Home and the Fu Hong Society.
The book includes a surprising number of Southeast Asian recipes, as Yang’s mother spent time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when growing up. They include pork or chicken satay with peanut sauce, gado gado, curry puffs, laksa, sambal udang (prawns in chilli paste), sago Melaka, and Nonya quail with nasi goreng.
Other recipes reflect the Chinese and British dishes of Hong Kong: beef brisket and tripe curry, char siu, Hong Kong-style ox tongue in brown sauce, prawn toast, Chinese oxtail stew, po po’s (maternal grandmother’s) chicken wings, sticky toffee pudding, bread and butter pudding with home-made custard sauce, Bakewell tart, and classic scones.
